Implementing circular economy in a regional context: A systematic literature review and a research agenda. (25th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arsova, Sanja; Genovese, Andrea; Ketikidis, Panayiotis H.
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 368(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-09-25
• Subjects: Circular economy -- Regional policy -- Regional development -- Smart specialisation -- Institutional pressures -- Systematic literature review; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133117
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Regions are the most important administrative units of the EU's development policies and so far, have been extensively used for framing and implementing strategic priorities. However, when it comes to regional implementation of the circular economy (CE), there is lack of systematicity both in academic literature and policy documents. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the regional adoption of CE, by systematically reviewing and synthesises the current academic literature in this emerging field, unveiling research gaps and discussing a future research agenda. The review was conducted by identifying relevant academic papers from leading journals using the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Overall, 82 relevant papers were identified through the review, which proceeded to descriptive, bibliometric and content analysis. This study has found that generally, the adoption of the circular economy on the regional level is underexplored, which was supported by the dearth of relevant academic contributions detected at the beginning of the process. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this is the first attempt to provide a holistic systematic literature review in the regional circular economy domain. Hence, the present study is considered as a crucial initial contribution in the direction of establishing robust conceptual frameworks which involve the constructs of regional circular economy and laying the groundwork for future studies in this field. Highlights: Regions constitute the minimum optimal adoption level for building a functional CE. NUTS 2 level regions are proposed as a regional unit for CE implementation. The literature on regional CE implementation is highly fragmented. Robust conceptual frameworks with regional CE constructs are needed.